Creating Links ­ The Sala Diaz / Transformer Exchange Project
by Victoria Reis & Jayme McLellan, Co-Founders and Co-Directors, Transformer, Washington, DC

Across the U.S. and abroad, there exists a thriving culture of independent artist-centered organizations that provide venues for the most current and often experimental artistic explorations in contemporary art. Transformer of Washington, D.C. and Sala Diaz of San Antonio, TX, are two such artist-centered organizations that act as "incubators" or project sites for artists and the presentation of their work.

Sometimes referred to as "alternative spaces", "art spaces", or more recently "artist-centered spaces", due to non-profit structures, non-traditional management approaches, and missions that focus on artistic process rather than sales, organizations like Transformer and Sala Diaz operate with the primary motive of providing artists opportunities for working through creative ideas in a supportive environment while furthering critical art dialogue.

Very often located in places within the general community, like storefronts (Transformer) or front porches (Sala Diaz), these art spaces are many times the first point of entry for the public to the world of art. It is this immediate connection with the community that helps these organizations survive and thrive. Typically managed by very small staffs, but programmed collectively through the input of participating artists, artist board members or advisors, as well as artists living and working in the community, the accessible nature of artist-centered spaces reveal the efforts that go into developing exhibitions and in turn help to build public support for the arts.

Working to broaden the network of artist-centered spaces and learn best practices from our colleagues nationally and internationally, The Sala Diaz / Transformer Exchange Project aims to build relationships between organizations with similar missions through exhibition projects and public forums to take place in Washington D.C. and San Antonio, TX in 2004 and 2005.

This partnership, the first of several that Transformer will be pursuing in the next few years, will provide opportunities for artistic exchange while fostering a productive discourse between organizations that, however similar in mission, have emerged from distinct cultural regions, and have developed organizational structures and programs appropriate to their community of artists and audiences.

Opening doors to new opportunities, artists and the organizations that support them become better connected to their peers while sharing experiences that can help them successfully resolve the challenges facing them. The Sala Diaz/Transformer Exchange Project seeks to create new audiences for the artists from each region, and expand their professional relationships from a regional focus to one that stretches nationally.

Building this network of support better sustains emergent ideas and perspectives while developing deeper understanding for the need to support this work. Creating these vitally needed links for artists and art spaces to connect with each other refines service to artists, furthers understanding of their needs, and also supports the next generation of artist-centered art spaces.

Knowing our neighbors from across the street, across the country or across the world helps us all to better understand just how much we share in common, and how much we need each other to learn and to evolve. This exchange project offers a dynamic step toward that better understanding.